Free online resource launches to help researchers and practitioners measure the implementation outcomes of healthcare interventions
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29 June 2021
Free online resource launches to help researchers and practitioners measure the implementation outcomes of healthcare interventions
Implementation science researchers at NIHR ARC South London and the University of East Anglia have developed a free online repository to help anyone implementing new ways of delivering healthcare to better understand and measure the outcomes of these changes.
The new resource, the Implementation Outcome Repository, brings together 55 instruments that have been developed and tested in physical healthcare settings to assess the success of new ways of delivering healthcare services.
The 55 instruments were identified through a systematic review of the research literature. The researchers then carefully evaluated each instrument, assessing its precision and accuracy and how easy it is to use in practice.
The repository is designed for anyone working on projects to implement changes in healthcare — including researchers, healthcare staff, managers, patients and service users — who want to quantitatively measure the outcomes of implementation.
“Each instrument has been carefully assessed for its psychometric and methodological strength, as well as its usability. We hope this resource will help a wide range of implementation stakeholders to select the most appropriate, rigorous and usable instrument to apply in their implementation project.”
Dr Louise Hull — Deputy lead of the implementation research theme, ARC South London; Centre for Implementation Science & King’s Improvement Science, King’s College London
“We hope this repository will broaden the use of validated instruments through this easily accessible online format, compared with trawling through the academic literature.”
Dr Zarnie Khadjesari — Senior lecturer in health sciences, University of East Anglia
The repository includes instruments that measure factors that influence implementation — for example, how acceptable an intervention or service is to staff and patients, and how feasible it is to implement — as well as instruments that measure the effectiveness of implementation efforts, for example, the extent to which a change has been adopted across an organisation.
The repository allows users to:
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Search for and compare instruments across a range of implementation outcomes
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View a summary of the instrument, including where and why it was developed
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Examine the quality of the instrument and how easy it is to use in practice
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Where permission is granted, access the instrument directly
“The Implementation Outcome Repository provides implementation researchers with an easy to navigate tool for guiding measure selection – with information and resources all in one place. It is a timely and welcome resource for researchers and implementation practitioners.”
Tracy Finch — Professor of healthcare & implementation science, Northumbria University; knowledge mobilisation & implementation science theme lead, NIHR ARC North East and North Cumbria
“Based on a rigorously conducted systematic review of implementation outcomes in physical healthcare settings, the open-access repository provides a user-friendly way of identifying measures and assessing their psychometric strength and usability. This will aid implementation researchers and other stakeholders who wish to evaluate the effectiveness of implementation efforts, and will also signal areas in which further measure development is sorely needed.”
Byron Powell — Assistant professor, Washington University in St. Louis, USA; President of the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC)
About the repository
The Implementation Outcome Repository was developed by implementation and improvement science researchers at NIHR ARC South London, based in the Centre for Implementation Science and King’s Improvement Science, King’s College London, working closely with researchers based in the Behavioural and Implementation Science research group at the University of East Anglia, with support from NIHR ARC East of England.
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Access the Implementation Outcome Repository
Free online — 55 instruments to help you measure implementation outcomes in healthcare. Updated regularly.
Find out more
Visit the repository
The repository at implementationoutcomerepository.org is updated regularly. If you have developed or are aware of instruments not yet included, get in touch.
implementationoutcomerepository.org →
Contact: implementation-repository@kcl.ac.uk
Watch the introduction video
Dr Louise Hull introduces the Implementation Outcome Repository and explains how to use it.
New to implementation science?
Read the Implementation Science Research Development (ImpRes) tool and guide to familiarise yourself with implementation outcomes and where they fit into an implementation study or project.
Original source: arc-sl.nihr.ac.uk — NIHR ARC South London legacy content archived May 2026.